Bronze

Missing in Action

Cast Bronze, life-size

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No mater if it is justifiable or not, war always comes down to the pain and suffering of individuals. Missing represents one such individual at the moment of their death. Robert Capa’s famous photo of the falling Spanish Republican soldier was the immediate inspiration. The helmet and armor-like wrappings are meant to imply a military context without being period-specific.

Damaged Woman

Cast Bronze, Life-Size

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I feel that the use of nudity is an appropriate means to initiate a dialogue about vulnerability, sexuality or other universal aspects of the human condition that are not period-specific. As soon as you clothe a figure you ground them in time, social class, occupation etc. Damaged Woman represents an archetypal individual who has been mentally abused but who is still standing. The ambiguous wrappings are meant to indicate bandages or any other less-than-successful attempt at repair.

Unknown Ancestor

Cast Bronze

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Unknown ancestor is an imagined portrait of someone I’ll never meet. I’ve often wondered what my family was up to during the Renaissance. I hope that they were all good peasant folk. I have no interest in royalty.

Rocking Goat

Cast Bronze

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Description

Tongue Piece

Cast Bronze

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Description

Big Boss Man

Cast Bronze, 7" tall

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Inspired by the Grateful Dead tune of the same name, Big Boss Man is an abstract representation of the unthinking and abusive exercise of power. The arms are shaped like old-style razor blades and the head is no more than a stump. The pose is meant to be threatening, with one arm raised and ready to strike. However, the scale is intentionally small in keeping with the sentiments of the song.

Bug Piece

Welded Bronze

39" h x 36" w x 38" d

Description

David

Cast Bronze, 32" tall

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The Biblical character of David has been a popular image in the world of sculpture over the years. Usually, he has been portrayed as the embodiment of virtue in the guise of the heroic underdog. However, in reality, trained slingers in the ancient world could easily kill you at ranges of over one hundred yards. Goliath never stood a chance of getting within sword range. So, my David is an unpleasant-looking character, sticking his tongue out and taunting his soon-to-be victim from a safe distance. I have chosen to make him look a little bit ridiculous in order to show the absurdity inherent in most human conflict.

Lady Bug

Cast Bronze

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Lady Bug is meant to look like an insect specimen impaled with a pin and displayed for the amusement and/or edification of others. She has been “collected”. The intent is to call attention to the less than humane way in which we all, men and women alike, collect others as sex, power, status or fashion objects. Admittedly, we all have some degree of self-interest at stake when we navigate our interpersonal relationships. However, I think it is preferable for all concerned to approach these intersecting self-interests as a beautiful dance rather than as a head-hunting expedition.

Masquerade

Cast Bronze

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In Masquerade I use nudity to talk about sexuality, desire and the odd masks we wear when we play the mating-game. The figure moves in the type of display-posture that is reminiscent of a fashion model on the runway. However, like the central character in the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, she is unaware of how ridiculous she looks in the eyes of others as she struts and preens wearing a chicken mask.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze(Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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In 1996, the City of Columbia, Missouri created a block long pedestrian plaza by closing the street to the east of the of the Boone County Courthouse. The resulting space was to include a small amphitheater and a publicly commissioned sculpture.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze(Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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The City invited artists to submit proposals for a permanent, weather-proof artwork to be installed in the newly created space and dedicated within a year. The total project budget was $40,000.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze(Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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Given the scope of the project and the relatively short time-line, fellow Columbia artist Andy Davis and I decided to join forces, work collaboratively and submit a single proposal under the assumption that two sets of hands were better than one when working against the clock.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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Since the focal point of the new amphitheater was to be a circular stage area backed by a row of columns against the façade of the government building behind it, several considerations became immediately apparent.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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First, the piece had to be located so as not to interrupt the view of the stage. Second, it had to be durable and relatively safe since children would probably be climbing all over it. Finally, given the function of the amphitheater, a theme involving the performing arts would be most appropriate.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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Our solution was to propose a multi-figure bronze grouping of kid-friendly animals playing musical instruments located at the top of the small hill behind the audience. We wanted to show a diverse community coming together to cooperate within the context of the arts. This is expressed somewhat more succinctly in the sub-title of the piece. Jamboree: Diversity in Harmony.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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Andy and I decided to organize the figures in a composition forming a low, elongated triangle to mimic the arrangement of statuary found on the pediments of classical era buildings such as the Parthenon. By doing so, the piece would visually “sit” on top of the row of columns behind the stage when seen from a point behind the audience.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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Of the sixteen proposals received by the city, ours was accepted after a lengthy review process involving the city council, a panel of art experts and the general public. The instant the contract was signed we got to work. One order of business was to build a foundry on Andy’s property so we could have control over the entire process.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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Andy and I modelled the figures in clay, cast them into wax and then cast them into silicon bronze using the ceramic-shell process. The piece was poured in 77 separate sections from 1400 lbs. of bronze. The sections were then welded together, the seams were chased and a brown patina was applied.

Jamboree

Cast Bronze (Collaboration with Andy Davis)

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After one year of work, Jamboree was installed with about 48 hours to spare before the deadline. When all was said and done, Andy and I made significantly less than minimum wage per hour on the project. But, as they say, “that which does not kill you makes you stronger.”

Quagmire

Cast Bronze

12" h x 11" w x 9" d

America's involvement in Vietnam has often been described as a quagmire. In other words, it was a messy situation that was easy to get into but almost impossible to exit. Growing up in the sixties, I have always associated this word with military adventurism gone awry. Given our current involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan this phrase again takes on some urgency. I've decided to give it visual form in the most direct way possible by showing a military man of indeterminate time period sunken up to his neck in mud or quicksand.

Cat Dish

Cast Bronze and dry cat food

13" h x 7" w x 12" d

“Cat Dish” is an altar-like shrine meant to poke fun at those of us who take our pets too seriously. For instance, according to the June 23rd ,2017 edition of “The Week”, it is possible for affluent obsessives to purchase a $215,000 designer doghouse from Hecate Verona that comes complete with marble columns, beechwood floors, a climate control system and automated treat dispensers. It also includes a conference call system so that devoted owners can see and speak to their animals whenever they feel the urge. Of course, making an expensive, high-status, one-of-a-kind, bronze art object to criticize the conspicuous consumption of the 1% is an ironic act of which I am fully aware. Obscene affluence always seems to start with the next tax-bracket up but never with ourselves.

In His Image

Cast Bronze

9" h x 5.5" w

In our human-centric vision of the cosmos, we claim to have been created in the image of God Himself. The book of Genesis in the Old-Testament tells us so. Therefore, based on my observations of the human race, God must be a blind-folded bumbler groping his way forward in a fog of confusion.